15 Sad Bollywood Movies To Watch For Your Next Scheduled Cry Session

The film narrates a fictional but extreme tear-inducing story where Rizwan Khan played by Shah Rukh Khan, is an autistic Muslim who sets out on a journey across the United States to meet the President after his Hindu wife, Mandira Rathod Khan (played by Kajol) and her son are faced with Islamophobic discrimination after the September 11 attacks. Shah Rukh Khan perfected the role and you find yourself wrapped around a story of injustice, religious discrimination and a not-so-sentimental love story (a rare for Karan Johar in our opinion).

The Sky Is Pink is a beautiful film based on the real-life story of Aisha Chaudhary and her parents battling her unusual medical disorder, pulmonary fibrosis. The storyline is smart, gripping and keeps you hooked against the background of turbulent hardships faced by the family. The ease and simplicity with which each character is portrayed provides the appropriate amount of nuance for a sensitive film like this. It's not your typical tear-jerker Bollywood film; instead, it strikes a chord with the heart, and you don't even notice that your eyes are moist because the emotions seep into you gradually rather than all at once, as most sad movies do. Honestly, we need more movies like this that are emotional but don't leave you feeling unsettled.

If you've heard the song 'Mera Kuch Samaan', you already know how sad the movie is. The story follows the lives of a separated couple, Sudha and Mahender, played by Rekha and Naseerudin Shah. Separated for years, the couple bump into each other at a railway station and what follows is flashbacks of their life together. Their unfulfilling marriage, Mahender's love for Maya (his partner from before marriage, played by Anuradha Patel), his continuing relationship with Maya and Sudha's steadfastness at not wanting to come second in her husband's life. The movie is a commentary on divorce that was way ahead of its time. It portrays the grief that comes with not only losing a partner, but also the life you thought you would have, and the struggle of having to come to terms with this loss and re-calibrate so you can keep going on. 

Who doesn't remember the beauty that this movie is, babumoshaye? Rajesh Khanna plays Anand, a man with terminal cancer who's trying to make the most of the time he has left, and befriends Bhaskar, a doctor who has grown pessimistic because of all the suffering he witnesses. Even though his prognosis has given him six months, Anand remains cheerful and brings light to every friend he makes. We witness the relationship between Anand and Bhaskar grow into a deep and meaningful friendship. Anand helps Bhaskar confess his love to Renu, while grieving the love he lost due to his illness. This movie is an absolute sob fest in the most wholesome but heart-breaking way, the cherry on top is the music which is absolutely beautiful. 

Friendship, love for your country, the reckless passion of youth, and find yourself in your 20s—Rang De Basanti has the makings of a great movie, and fully delivers. The story follows a group of six students of Delhi University, who are cast by a documentary filmmaker as Indian freedom fighters in her film. The shoot of this film runs parallel with the group discovering the broken systems of their own country after having been personally victimised by it. What follows is a fight to the end to get justice, and all the hardship and heartbreak that comes with it. With phenomenal performances by the entire cast and an amazing score by AR Rahman, this one is definitely a favourite in our generation.

This movie would deserve to be on this list solely based on the ability of the song 'Maa' to make us weep. The story follows Ishan Awasti, a middle school kid who doesn't do well in school, is easily distracted, and is an exceptional artist. In an attempt to bring more discipline to his life, his parents send him to a boarding school in Panchgani where the art teacher, played by Aamir Khan, spends time with him to understand what is holding him back. It is a beautiful story about how we cannot hold every child to the same standard, and how just altering how we teach children based on their specific needs can do wonders for their development. 

Aligarh comes in this writer's top 10 best movies of all time list because of the sensitivity with which it treats its subjects. With award-worthy performances from Manoj Vajpayee and Rajkumar Rao, the movie is based on real events following the life of Ramchandra Siras, a professor of language at Aligarh Muslim University who is suspended on the grounds of morality after a TV crew violates his privacy. Deepu Sebastian, a journalist who wants to tell Ramchandra's story, contacts him, and helps him fight his case. It is a tender portrayal of love, loneliness and longing, while also advocating for gay rights. It's definitely worth adding to your watch list. 

Another one of this writer's favourites (a big part of that is Shah Rukh), Dear Zindagi talks about mental health and therapy in a way that hasn't been done before in Bollywood. I remember sobbing in the movie hall because of how much I resonated with it. Kaira, played by Alia Bhatt, is a cinematograph in her 20s who has trouble maintaining romantic relationships, has insomnia and is feeling the general existential dread you feel in your 20s, and to top it all has a complicated relationship with her parents. The treatment of trauma, having to come to terms with it, and redefining your relationship with it is done beautifully in the movie—while some of the therapy scenes will definitely move you, and make you reflect. 

An amazing cast with Alia Bhatt, Fawad Khan, Siddharth Malhotra, Ratna Pathak Shah, Naseerudin Shah, Rajat Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor—Kapoor and Sons delves into complicated family equations, a marriage that still has love but buried under resentment, and lots and lots of love. One of our favourite things about the movie is Rishi Kapoor's character, who plays a cheerful, way ahead of his times Dadu and the tender moments between Fawad Khan and Ratna Pathak Shah's character. The movie has an ending you don't expect and the tears are guaranteed. 

One of the best films of recent times, Masaan follows the lives of two young people in Benaras—Devi and Deepak. The movie is a commentary on caste, on the policing of women's sexuality and treats love, loss and grief with immense tenderness and nuance. Devi and Deepak both are people in love who have to come to terms with the consequences of love and how overpowering grief can be. There aren't enough words to describe just how brilliant this movie is. The writing, the direction, the performances and how beautifully Varanasi becomes a central character in the movie. It'll make you ugly cry, for sure. 

A heart-breaking beautiful story about Raju, an orphan, who builds a lifelong friendship with four elephants who saved his life, Haathi Mere Saathi is a beautiful cinematic journey to take. Love, loss, grief and the cuteness of the four animals will have you bawling. And it has the wonderful Rajesh Khanna as the protagonist, who we can watch for endless hours. 

There was a time when KJo's family drama's had our tear ducts working in overdrive. Kal Ho Naa Ho is just one of the many Shah Rukh Khan-starrers that delivered the right amount of drama, emotions and tears for us. It follows the story of Naina (Preity Zinta), an introvert dealing with multiple issues in her head (like us) who somehow ends up falling in love with the lively, fun-loving and extremely generous Aman (Shah Rukh Khan) but destiny plays its own cards and they can't be together (which sucks). What unwraps is a love-triangle (with Saif Ali Khan to the rescue) that's actually not messy and filled with love and respect for all three of 'em.